first elected to office in 1978 in georgia, his party, like the republican party today, was in the wilderness. the jimmy carter occupied the white house, and both the house and senate were safely in democratic hands. but with the election of president reagan in 1980, republicans took both the house and the senate. but in the house, where newt gingrich went to work each day, he was badly outnumbered. now, i worked as a hill staffer for a congressman's office who was only steps away from newt, and i can assure you for representatives like newt, the minority was often a lonely place. the republicans had not held the majority there since 1954, and it was not a soul alive who could ever imagine a republican majority again. oh, except for newt. with no seniority but a tireless work ethic, a vision and a mind filled with ideas, it was newt gingrich who sat in the back benches of congress and methodically devise a strategy over several years to make the republican party a party of ideas once again. it was newt edifies the famous contract with america. plan to give republicans more than something to r